Could 'double-dipping' David Feeney derail Labor's campaign?
Every Monday to Friday I'll be delivering a personally-curated newsletter. Call it the double espresso of news – the morning news kickstart for busy people who want to know what they need to know before they get going.
1. David's double-dipping
There's no doubt David Feeney, a right-wing Labor party powerbroker, is in deep political trouble after forgetting that he owned a $2.3 million house which he failed to declare to Parliament. This earned him a strong admonishment from Labor Leader Bill Shorten but no sacking. Feeney is a critical ally of Shorten's in Victoria, so no surprise.
But Shorten will continue to face pressure. In politics the worst thing that can happen with any sort of scandal is that they keep rolling. Think Bronwyn Bishop and the helicopter - the story just didn't die down and it killed her political career.
Today there are fresh sparks in Feeney's case. His wife Liberty Sanger owns a house through her trust in Canberra where Feeney lives during Parliamentary sitting weeks, and, you guessed it, claims $270 per night from the taxpayer.
This practice, enjoyed until now most prominently by former Joe Hockey, also the husband of an extremely wealthy wife, is by no means illegal or wrong. In fact Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the multi-millionaire used to claim the allowance each night he stayed in his Canberra waterfront apartment owned by - you guessed it, his wife Lucy.
But it doesn't look good to the public. It didn't for Turnbull, nor Hockey and neither does it for Feeney. And it ensures his forgetfulness rears its head into the opposition's campaign for another day and a day Labor wants to be focussed on health policy.
For a funny side to this story, although I doubt many in Labor are laughing, the tenant in Feeney's forgotten house is urging his neighbours to vote Green.
Feeney's seat of Batman is one the Greens are aggressively targeting. You can read the ABC's esteemed election analyst Antony Green on their prospects here.
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